Saturday, February 11th, 2012

Obama Prays for Immigration Reform

By
Friday, June 19, 2009 at 12:00 pm

Addressing a National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast sponsored by Esperanza, a Hispanic religious coalition, President Obama this morning won applause for reiterating his commitment to immigration reform.

Quoting scripture, invoking the “love thy neighbor” religious command and noting the nomination of the first Hispanic to be a justice on the Supreme Court, Obama declared that “upholding America’s tradition as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants” is not contradictory, but “complementary.”

“That’s why I’m committed to passing comprehensive immigration reform,” he said.

Of course, Obama’s been saying that for a while now, but he has yet to propose or back a comprehensive immigration reform plan. In April, the White House said that the president would speak publicly about immigration reform in May, but he still hasn’t made any particularly notable public speeches on the issue, other than to relatively small audiences of Hispanic groups.  This morning’s prayer breakfast was attended by no more than 200 people.

That may be because the president has a lot of other priorities on his plate — the economy, two wars and health care reform, to name a few. But it also may be that the administration is afraid to push what immigration restrictionists call “amnesty” for illegal immigrants that many Americans fear are just going to take their jobs.

Although he and Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano have said they support the DREAM Act, which would legalize some children of undocumented immigrants, Obama has also said that should be part of a larger bill  Democrats in Congress apparently agree, because they haven’t put it up separately for a vote.

Obama is scheduled to meet with members of Congress next week to discuss comprehensive immigration reform. When he does that and he finally speaks to a larger audience about the idea, he’ll need to make the very logical case that legalizing undocumented immigrant workers will actually be good for the economy — by increasing tax revenue, boosting wages and increasing demand — as former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan testified in April, and a broad range of economic studies have shown.

It’s still not clear, though, how much political capital the president is willing to spend to make that case.

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Categories & Tags: Civil Rights| Congress| Economy/Finance| Immigration| Obama| Politics| U.S.| | | | | | | | | | | |

Comments

10 Comments

Doc3
Comment posted June 19, 2009 @ 4:22 pm

Support HR 1868 to end the so called Anchor Baby law. Demand that the border fence be completed to stop the flow of illegal aliens. Demand that E-Verify be passed and strictly enforced. Until we stop the flow of illegal aliens into our Country there should be no discussion about amnesty. Find and register all illegal aliens.

24AheadDotCom
Comment posted June 19, 2009 @ 6:22 pm

BHO just said the same old thing he's said time and time again. In fact, much of what he said Bush and McCain have said, and one part of it was very much like McCain.

Here's how BHO is trying to mislead you about this issue.

No one in the MSM (or at Soros-funded pseudo-papers like this) is going to challenge BHO on this issue or tell you the truth, so if you want to know what BHO isn't telling you, see the link.

rita
Comment posted June 19, 2009 @ 7:20 pm

Those who come here illegally, steal our IDs and ignore our laws have already demonstrated they lack the honesty and decency to ever become American citizens.

a.) Enforce the existing immigration laws.
b.) Secure the border.
c.) Don't hire illegal aliens.
d.) No anchor babies.
e.) Deportation through attrition.

johnd86
Comment posted June 20, 2009 @ 9:18 pm

“Deportation through attrition”, “Find and register all illegal aliens” – these are comments that don't represent America's values. I hold no hate for the “illegals” like you call them and I am full aware that illegal immigration is a problem, but they are a product of our inadequacies. We need to enforce the border, fix the immigration backlog, put stricter restriction on what family members residents and citizens alike can bring, and finally give the people that have lived here for many years a chance to obtain permanent residency and eventually citizenship.

As for rounding them up like cattle and deporting them through attrition I don't agree. These are your neighbors, your friends, and for many Americans, their family.

DelawareBob
Comment posted June 24, 2009 @ 2:25 am

“We are a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants…”

Then ENFORCE THE LAWS, obama!

The American people DO NOT want AMNESTY for 20 million ILLEGAL ALIENS!!!

Send these 20 million ILLEGAL ALIENS back to their own country where they belong and let them apply to come here LEGALLY like the millions of others who are waiting to come here LEGALLY. Then they will be welcomed with open arms.

ENFORCE THE LAW! NO AMNESTY! I repeat. ENFORCE THE LAW! NO AMNESTY! Must I say it again? OK. ENFORCE THE LAW! NO AMNESTY!

Sen. Charles Schumer says there are enough votes in the Senate to pass an immigration bill. « Count Us Out
Pingback posted June 25, 2009 @ 1:15 pm

[...] a National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast last week, President Obama won applause when he promised Latino religious leaders that he’s [...]

Key
Comment posted June 27, 2009 @ 3:13 am

I can think of 338 billion reasons why not to allow amnesty to the illegals!
$338 billion dollars in a year, for education, healthcare, and criminal/justice just to name a few areas we tapayers are forking over to cover the costs of supporting these people!

and WHAT really kills me how the illegals will break our laws, but then “hide” behind our law that makes there kids legal in this country! It's all a huge VERY EXPENSIVE joke!
In my opinion, if the parent(s) are illegal, the kids are illegal also! ENFORE OUR LAWS!
For further “facts” on the true costs of what illegals put on the Amercian taxpayer go to
the Federation of Immigration Reform (FAIR)

adidas originals
Comment posted June 5, 2010 @ 1:32 am

Thanks for this interesting post,i like it.

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